I disagre there.
If the manufacturer can´t make "decent" drivers with the TS manufacturer leave as specs, they should stop produce them.
Agree with profiguy here "A narrow spider will limit excursion and behaves much less linear than a larger one"
Feels super-logical if you think about it.
Older car´s had 60, 70, 80 (high )profile tire´s, and was wonderful to ride in, now with 35, 45 profile its not flexible any longer, and feels like go-kart....The possibility of being compliant is significantly less
I think there's a happy medium to building a good sounding, reliable pro sound driver. Of course whats good for fidelity isn't always good for durability. Factoring in the mixed use (grey area) application, leading to somewhat of a driver identity crisis. Using pro sound drivers for hi fi purposes is challenging. Sometimes you find that unicorn driver which is good at both. Its sort of like trying to do a drag race in a tank.
This Lavoce SAF184.03 I've been working with is honestly one of the best 18" pro subs I've seen from a cost standpoint. It does everything a typical 18" pro sub is supposed to, but for less money. The cone is very rigid on this thing, but not to the point of sounding too nasal or peaky. The suspension is just right in compliance - something hard to achieve on a woofer/sub of this type. The motor is very quiet and well ventilated. Not completely silent in free air but very close to it. In a ported cab under 200 hz you definitely won't hear anything but the input signal, even at close to xmax.
The best part about this 18" is the TSPs are very accurate at lower drive levels, not at 1000W with the VC boiling away - that's kind of dishonest, rather embellishing the truth. I just wish other companies would make drivers this good for reasonable amounts of money. At $300 shipped to your door (40 lbs... yikes!) I haven't seen anything better in an 18" sub.
And to the point made here before, having the driver do mechanical limiting isn't a good idea long term. It just wastes energy, beats up the suspension and increases distortion unnecessarily running close to the driver's SPL limits. Some people like that compressed sound when playing EDM or rap. I'd rather do that electronically with dynamics processing.
This Lavoce SAF184.03 I've been working with is honestly one of the best 18" pro subs I've seen from a cost standpoint. It does everything a typical 18" pro sub is supposed to, but for less money. The cone is very rigid on this thing, but not to the point of sounding too nasal or peaky. The suspension is just right in compliance - something hard to achieve on a woofer/sub of this type. The motor is very quiet and well ventilated. Not completely silent in free air but very close to it. In a ported cab under 200 hz you definitely won't hear anything but the input signal, even at close to xmax.
The best part about this 18" is the TSPs are very accurate at lower drive levels, not at 1000W with the VC boiling away - that's kind of dishonest, rather embellishing the truth. I just wish other companies would make drivers this good for reasonable amounts of money. At $300 shipped to your door (40 lbs... yikes!) I haven't seen anything better in an 18" sub.
And to the point made here before, having the driver do mechanical limiting isn't a good idea long term. It just wastes energy, beats up the suspension and increases distortion unnecessarily running close to the driver's SPL limits. Some people like that compressed sound when playing EDM or rap. I'd rather do that electronically with dynamics processing.
